Clothes hanger



March 28, 1944. a J sMYTH 2,345,509

CLOTHES HANGER Filed Dec. 19, 1941 INVENTOR.

BEEWEAM J7 SNYT/v rod-like member 2.

Patented Mar. 28, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT orrics CLOTHES HANGER Bertram J. Smyth, Oberlin, Ohio Application December 19, 1941, Serial No. 423,614

8 Claims. (01. 223-88) This invention relates to clothes hangers, and more particularly to hangers for womens skirts and the like.

Clothes hangers have long been made which were suitable for mens suits but, while they were suitable for womens coats, they were not well adapted for womens skirts. When skirts were to be supported by the hangers the skirts either had to be folded over the horizontal rod of the hanger or attached thereto by pins or the like. According to the present invention clothes hangers are provided which will not only hold mens suits and womens coats but also will support womens skirts without folding or the use of pins or similar attaching means.

Briefly described, the present invention comprises a clothes hanger of any one of various common forms, for example, a triangular-shaped wire hanger, and skirt supporting means adjustably' attached to the horizontal rod part of the hanger.

vIn the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification, and in which the invention and various embodiments of parts of the invention are disclosed,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a triangular wire clothes hanger equipped with skirt supports and embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is an elevational view, partly in section, taken on line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Figures 3, 4, and 6 are'side elevations of various modifications of the skirt supporting means of Fig. 1.

In Fig. 1 is shown a conventional, triangularshaped wire clothes hanger I having a horizontal, Two skirt supports 3 are mounted on member 2 in position to fit within a womans skirt and support the same on the outer surfaces 4 of these members 3.

The supports 3 of Fig. 1 are shown in enlargement in Fig. 3. Each support 3 has a flat head portion 5 provided with substantially parallel fingers 6 extending in opposite directions on the same side of head 5. These fingers may conveniently be made by forming U-shaped cuts in the metal and forcing out the intervening tongue-like fingers 6, substantially as shown in Fig. 3. Preferably these fingers B are only slightly farther apart than the diameter or width of the rod like member 2 of the hanger with which the supports are to be assembled.

The flat head portion 5 of each support lies in a single plane and when the support is assembled with the rod this head portion is substantially vertical with one side thereof engaging against one side of the. rod. -The fingers .6 ex: tend above andbelow the "rod, engaging the up-'- per and. lowersurfaces." of the latter and extend beyond and engage the far side of the rod to retain it in positionwith respect to the said side of the head portion. Since the fingers are narrow and preferably inclined as illustrated, sharp edges of the finger engage the upper and lower surfaces of the rod respectively, thereby biting into the rod when a garment is on the support and preventing ready sliding of the support along therod.

It will be understood, from the drawing and the foregoing description that the supports 3 may be assembled one at, a time with the hanger 'I by positioning the rod. 2 between finger 6,,as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, and then moving the support 3 to the full linepo'sition so that the rod 2"bears against both fingersfinear their points of attachment to. head 5 of the support. When two supports ,3 are assembled on the horizontal rod-dike member, for example 2 of the hanger of Fig. 1, they may be adjusted toward or away from each other to correspond to the width of the skirt to be supported thereon, After the skirt is in place the supports may be moved farther apart to retain the skirt on the suppors. The gripping action between the rod 2 and fingers 6 is sufficient to prevent movement of the supports toward each other when a skirt is in place on the supports.

The skirt support 3a of Fig. 4 is similar in substantially all respects to the support 3 of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 but; additionally, is prov'ided'with a flattened upper edge 4a to avoid any possibility of injury to the skirt.

In Fig. 5 is shown a skirt support 3bquite like the supports of Figs. 1 to 4, but with the skirt supporting portion 1 turned thru about degrees from the plane of the head portion 5a, and with both edges 8 of portion 1 rounded by being bent back upon themselves. This support St) atfords a somewhat Wider surface for engagement with the skirt than do the supports 3 and 3a.

In Fig. 6 the support 30 is shown which differs from support 3 of Fig. 3 primarily in shape.

It will be understood that the skirt supporting members 3, 3a, 3b and 30 may take forms other than those here specifically shown and also that the skirt supports may be assembled with clothes hangers other than the wire hanger shown in Fig. 1. By varying the spaces between any of the fingers 6, or their equivalents, the skirt supports may be assembled with horizontal members of different thicknesses and with clothes hangers of means and a pair of skirt supports adjustzably mounted on said rod means, each of said supports having a fiat head provided with struck-out, op positely extending fingers on one side thereof to engage on opposite sides of the said rod means,

and an outwardly and downwardly extending curved body portion connected to the head portion.

2. A clothes hanger including horizontal rod means and a pair of skirt supports slidably mounted on said rod means, each of said supports hav ing a flat head portion provided with struck-out, oppositely extending, substantially parallel fingers on one side thereof to engage on opposite sides of the said rod means and support a skirt without sliding on said rod means.

3. A clothes hanger including horizontal rod means and a pair of skirt supports mounted on said rod means, each of said supports having a head provided with means for grippingly engaging opposite sides of the said rod means and a downwardly and outwardly extending portion to extend into and support a skirt, said gripping means comprising struck out, oppositely extending, parallel fingers each secured at one end to one side of the head. to engage the rod means near the secured ends of said fingers, said downwardly and outwardly extending portion having a convex upper surface.

4. A clothes hanger including horizontal rod means and a pair of garment supports mounted on said rod means, each of said supports comprising a head portion and a garment-engaging portion, said head portion being flat and having substantially parallel, oppositely extending fingers projecting from one side thereof, said fingers being spaced from the head portion by a distance only slightly greater than the diameter of said rod means and being spaced from each other by a distance sufficient to receive the rod means loosely therebetween for purpose of assembly, said fingers extending at an angle to said rod means when the support is assembled therewith and engaging the rod means near their points of attachment to said head portion.

5. A clothes hanger including a horizontal rod and a pair of garment supports mounted on said rod, each of said supports having a flat head portion disposed in a single vertical plane with one side engaging a side of said rod, said portion being provided with fingers on one side thereof to engage the upper and lower sides of said rod at spaced points, each of said supports also having an arcuate-shaped garment-engaging portion extending outwardly and downwardly from said head portion.

6. A clothes hanger including a horizontal rod and a pair of garment supports mounted on said rod, each of said supports having a fiat head portion disposed in a single vertical plane with one side engaging a side of said rod, said portion being provided with fingers on one side thereof to engage the upper and lower sides of said rod at spaced points as well as the side of the rod opposite said portion, each of said supports also having an arcuate-shaped garment-engaging portion extending outwardly and downwardly from said head portion, the garment-engaging surface of said support having a rounded surface.

7. A clothes hanger including a horizontal rod and a pair of garment supports mounted on said rod, each of saidsupports having a flat head portion disposed in a single vertical plane with one side engaging a side of said rod, said portion being provided with fingers on one side thereof to engage said rod at spaced points to retain said rod against said side of the head portion, each of said supports also having an arcuate-shaped garment-engaging portion extending outwardly and downwardly from said head portion, the head portion lying in a plane at substantially right angles to the garment-engaging surface of the said arcuate shaped portion.

8. A clothes hanger including a horizontal rod and a pair of clothes supports mounted on said rod, each of said supports comprising a fiat head portion disposed in a single vertical plane with one side engaging against one side of saidrod, and parallel oppositely extending fingers projecting from said rod-engaging side of said head portion and extending beyond the rod and engaging the far side thereof, said fingers having edge corners engaging respectively with the upper and lower surfaces of said rod.

BERTRAM J. SMYTH. 

